Meet the Team

When it comes to GEMtouch, we often get the question, “how is this opportunity still wide open?”

That’s because it requires a team with an extremely deep and wide domain knowledge about the hospitality industry combined with guest-centric technology.

GEMtouch is able to capitalize on this opportunity because of:

A highly respected team, with a rare and deep combination of hospitality technology, spa, golf, and fitness operations, revenue strategy, and e-commerce expertise.

An unusually mature initial software release, due to founder’s domain knowledge and extended stealth development phase.

A unique, all-encompassing approach to hospitality technology, serving the rapidly expanding “Experience Economy” resulting from the coming of age of the Millennial Generation.

Leadership Team

Brian Cunningham — CEO

Ron is an accomplished hospitality technology management professional with more than 25 years of experience in planning, developing, and implementing product development and strategic business plans.

Brian Cunningham — Founder & CTO

Brian is an accomplished hospitality technology management professional with more than 25 years of experience in planning, developing, and implementing product development and strategic business plans.

Brian was one of the earliest employees of Springer-Miller Systems, where he first discovered his passion for applying guest-centric technology to complex resort operations, and then launched his career as a serial entrepreneur.

That career includes the founding of Rio Systems International in 1995 and Nirvana Technology in 2004. Like many early SaaS solutions, Nirvana’s technology was delivered several years before the hospitality industry would gain a comfort level with mission-critical SaaS solutions. Its predecessor Rio had enjoyed broad market acceptance in the resort and gaming segments, and developed into a well-recognized brand that became a strategic acquisition for AremiSoft, that was later rolled up into Softbrands and then Infor Hospitality.

GEMtouch’s first release contains such a mature feature set as a direct reflection of Brian’s decades of experience, which included designing and managing implementations for some of the best and largest resorts in the world.

Ben Taylor – VP Development & Customer Services

Ben has almost 20 years of experience leading the implementation, support and development of golf and guest activity systems.

During that time he managed various areas including implementations, support, quality assurance, and development of OpenCourse, a LAN-based system for golf and guest activities, beginning with its inception as a startup in 2005 through its affiliation with The Active Network. Ben came to GEMtouch after OpenCourse was acquired by GolfNow, a division of the Golf Channel.

Board of Directors

Dave Berkus – Chairman
President – Berkus Technology Ventures

Dave Berkus is a tech futurist, super angel, speaker, author, governance expert and HFTP Hall of Famer. His “Berkus Method” of valuation of early stage companies has been widely accepted for over 20 years.

Carol BeggsCHTP, Director of Technology – Chatham Bars Inn

Carol is the domain expert in resort and hospitality brand technologies. She is an Industry thought leader having served as Sonesta Hotels CIO for 25+ years.

Doug RiceManaging Director – Hospitality Technology Network

Doug is also a member of the HFTP Hall of Fame. He previously founded and was the CEO for Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG).

Jay Livingood
President & Founder – Yellow Dog Software

Jay previously served as the Managing Director for Open Course Systems.

Lisa Cunningham
National Sales Director – Elavon

Lisa is the resident domain expert in managing corporate relationships with hospitality companies. Her 20-plus-year career has also featured successful tenures at Oracle Hospitality. $

Minott Osborn
Sr. Account Executive Hospitality – Infor Hospitality

A graduate of the Cornell Hotel School, Minott has been a top echelon hospitality technology sales leader for 30 years.

Crystal FernandoPrincipal & Founder – WhatBox? Innovation Partners

Crystal is a leader and change-maker with global experience in strategy activation. She had a 15 year tenure with IHG, most recently as Global Head Sales & Marketing Commercial Delivery.